Public Service Announcements

Chicago radio personalities Larry Lujack and Tommy Edwards are again reprising their "Animal Stories" bit from the 1970s and '80s, this time in a series of public service announcements for pet emergency preparedness. Seven spots featuring "Uncle Lar" and "Lil' Tommy" will air on more than 200 radio stations statewide, according to the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, which partnered with the Illinois Broadcasters Association to produce the spots. "Animal...

Chicago radio personalities Larry Lujack and Tommy Edwards are again reprising their "Animal Stories" bit from the 1970s and '80s, this time in a series of public service announcements for pet emergency preparedness. Seven spots featuring "Uncle Lar" and "Lil' Tommy" will air on more than 200 radio stations statewide, according to the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, which partnered with the Illinois Broadcasters Association to produce the spots. "Animal...

Welcome to America, David Beckham. According to E! Online, the L.A. Galaxy player and international soccer star has his own impostor running around Los Angeles. The bogus Beckham apparently made his presence known over the weekend with calls seeking to organize children's charity events in his name and offering tickets to see him play, the site reported. County public information officer Judy Hammond told the site that the phony phoned county offices and the Sheriff's Department...

In March, Jeff Ramone was invited to participate in a splashy, state-funded ad campaign to encourage people to get tested for HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases. The Andersonville resident was told that the new campaign was paid for by the Illinois Department of Public Health and would launch in April to great fanfare: billboards along Chicago-area expressways and streets, posters in the bathrooms of gay bars, public service announcements on television and radio, and interactive...

- Brittany Murphy is starring in a series of new ads for Jordache, which became famous during the 1970s designer jeans craze. The ads, shot by Patrick Demarchelier, are a nod to the horse-head logo. - Nicholas Antonio Candela, 8, and his 7-year-old sister, Gio' Annah, were found Monday after a "Without a Trace" viewer provided the FBI with information upon seeing Nicholas profiled during the Thursday night show. This is the first time a missing person has been found as a direct result of the public service...

Welcome to America, David Beckham. According to E! Online, the L.A. Galaxy player and international soccer star has his own impostor running around Los Angeles. The bogus Beckham apparently made his presence known over the weekend with calls seeking to organize children's charity events in his name and offering tickets to see him play, the site reported. County public information officer Judy Hammond told the site that the phony phoned county offices and the Sheriff's Department...

The city of Chicago unveiled Tuesday a revised advertising plan to educate people on avoiding AIDS that includes the use of the word "condom." The plan, unveiled by Richard M. Krieg, the city's Department of Health commissioner, and developed by the DDB Needham advertising agency, is scheduled to begin within a couple of weeks. The massive informational campaign includes placement of posters and signs on billboards throughout the city, as well as television commercials. "We...

- Brittany Murphy is starring in a series of new ads for Jordache, which became famous during the 1970s designer jeans craze. The ads, shot by Patrick Demarchelier, are a nod to the horse-head logo. - Nicholas Antonio Candela, 8, and his 7-year-old sister, Gio' Annah, were found Monday after a "Without a Trace" viewer provided the FBI with information upon seeing Nicholas profiled during the Thursday night show. This is the first time a missing person has been found as a direct result of the public service...

Even though Carrie Lydon, 17, is not old enough to vote, there are some political issues she feels strongly about, such as welfare, the environment and funding cutbacks in education. Soon, Lydon will be old enough to vote. And so will her peers. That is why she believes it is important that the future voting generation learns early how to listen critically to what candidates are saying, as well as understand how the media can affect political campaigns. For instance,...

As church bells chime in the background, a burly bouncer guards the velvet ropes at the church entrance. "No, step aside, please," he tells two men holding hands. "I don't think so," he says to a young black girl, blocking her entrance. A Hispanic man and a person in a wheelchair also are denied entry. The scene fades to black and a message: "Jesus didn't turn people away. Neither do we." Hoping to boost the numbers of a dwindling denomination, the United Church of Christ...

Democracy has made great inroads in Hollywood recently. Time was when the only people who got their names and footprints embossed in stars along Tinseltown's "Walk of Fame" were the likes of Clark Gable, Bette Davis, John Wayne and other deities in the great American Pantheon. Then came Lassie. Then came Miss Piggy. Now comes Pee-wee Herman. The frenetic majordomo of CBS's "Pee-wee's Playhouse" is the latest to be canonized. His star, the 1,874th, is cast in concrete in a most...

A former presidential candidate touts the power of Viagra, the prescription drug that combats what is gingerly referred to as "erectile dysfunction." A group of young women chat about a pill's effect on their complexion, mentioning almost in passing that the pill also prevents pregnancy. A young couple coo passionately in a rowboat on a darkened lake until they are interrupted by "Trojan Man," who delivers a timely condom. The first two ads aired on network...

When Kim Ogden accepted the newly created position of director of public information for the Illinois Cooperative Extension Service, she was told to increase the agency's visibility. In the past, the Cooperative Extension Service relied on word-of-mouth to advertise its services. But not anymore. Ogden, who has held her post for more than a year, is organizing a marketing campaign in an effort to reach more people and expand the agency's service. "Some people are not aware that we are available to...

If you want the no-holds-barred story on what it's like to be a deaf child, check out your local public access station, where it's likely you'll be able to catch a program starring members of the Deaf Actors Guild. Filmed for WCTV, Wheaton's community television station, Deaf Actors Guild programs, from action adventure shows to public service announcements, were shared with many Chicago-area stations thanks to the efforts of the shows' producer, Jim Chambers. "We bicycled them out, the nickname for...

A former presidential candidate touts the power of Viagra, the prescription drug that combats what is gingerly referred to as "erectile dysfunction." A group of young women chat about a pill's effect on their complexion, mentioning almost in passing that the pill also prevents pregnancy. A young couple coo passionately in a rowboat on a darkened lake until they are interrupted by "Trojan Man," who delivers a timely condom. The first two ads aired on network...

By Essay by Lee Kantz. and Lee Kantz is a free-lance writer | February 15, 1998

While waiting for the No. 145 bus one morning, I noticed an advertisement on the side of a passing bus. The ad was composed of simple black text on a yellow background, along with the logo of a major television network. It read, "Don't worry. You still have millions of other brain cells." This uplifting promotion did not specify any particular programs on this network, so I assumed it applied to the entire company. If this had been an ad on the front of a bus, I would have expected the back of the bus to...

If you want the no-holds-barred story on what it's like to be a deaf child, check out your local public access station, where it's likely you'll be able to catch a program starring members of the Deaf Actors Guild. Filmed for WCTV, Wheaton's community television station, Deaf Actors Guild programs, from action adventure shows to public service announcements, were shared with many Chicago-area stations thanks to the efforts of the shows' producer, Jim Chambers. "We bicycled them out, the nickname for...

Even though Carrie Lydon, 17, is not old enough to vote, there are some political issues she feels strongly about, such as welfare, the environment and funding cutbacks in education. Soon, Lydon will be old enough to vote. And so will her peers. That is why she believes it is important that the future voting generation learns early how to listen critically to what candidates are saying, as well as understand how the media can affect political campaigns. For instance,...

By Essay by Lee Kantz. and Lee Kantz is a free-lance writer | February 15, 1998

While waiting for the No. 145 bus one morning, I noticed an advertisement on the side of a passing bus. The ad was composed of simple black text on a yellow background, along with the logo of a major television network. It read, "Don't worry. You still have millions of other brain cells." This uplifting promotion did not specify any particular programs on this network, so I assumed it applied to the entire company. If this had been an ad on the front of a bus, I would have expected the back of the bus to...